


Guardian

by DownToTheSea



Category: His Dark Materials (TV)
Genre: F/F, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:01:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DownToTheSea/pseuds/DownToTheSea
Summary: Xaphania watches over Mary.
Relationships: Mary Malone/Xaphania
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	Guardian

**Author's Note:**

  * For [venndaai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/venndaai/gifts).



Xaphania had known this precise moment was coming for thousands of years, had worked to bring it about, but now that the rebellion was about to enter its final stage she had been feeling a curious disconnect. Defeating the Authority for once and all had been her only goal for nearly her entire life, and what a long, long life that had been. Over the millennia it had been all too easy to forget why she was even fighting in the first place.

Though now, watching over the woman Mary Malone, she began to remember.

She had never been human; she had never felt any of the multitude of sensations and experiences they did, and now she observed the human in half-jealousy, half-awe. All Xaphania had known or cared about her before was the part she must play in the prophecy, her role to come as the tempting serpent. Now she was beginning to wonder if she hadn’t lost the point somewhere along the way: surely what was special about Mary wasn’t her role in the prophecy, but the simple fact of her existence.

She watched in fascination as Mary went about her work as a scientist. Humans had such short lives compared to angels – though perhaps they burned all the brighter for it – and even if Mary lacked the age and experience necessary to truly comprehend the universe on the level that Xaphania did, her efforts alone were admirable, and the knowledge she did manage to glean was truly impressive.

Yet knowledge alone meant little: the Guild in Cittàgazze had plumbed the secrets of the universe and chosen to wield them only for power and gain, and in so doing had doomed themselves and their world.

Mary Malone would have been a far better guardian of their knowledge. She had a kindness about her… Xaphania saw her journey through the deserted city, meeting the lost children there and offering them treats, showing them kindness and even embracing them.

Mary had a mission, yet she hesitated as they began to leave, and the struggle in her heart was plain on her face. Carry out her task, or help these two wayward children? Mary Malone was apparently not a woman who would fail to try for both.

She called the children back.

Xaphania, watching from above and all around, decided that the prophecy had chosen well.


End file.
